


System of a Bone

by Tooth, trinuska



Series: Fall Out Bones [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Other, Polyamory, Skeletons, a lot of drama, a lot of fighting, a lot of near death experiences, fun for the whole family, plot without porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:13:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7702090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tooth/pseuds/Tooth, https://archiveofourown.org/users/trinuska/pseuds/trinuska
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's you and the Edge™ Skeletons. You beat up dogs and run through a forest a lot.<br/>A lot of forbidden loveful fluff mixed with explicit pornography and the fear of getting mauled to death by a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters.<br/>Reader has a vagina, no defined pronouns are used.</p><p>This is part 5 of an alternate version of our long going skelebros polyamory series and has some sort of continuity going on, for the rest of this series as well as the original one either click the link under the tags or look into my archive.</p><p>Check out our Tumblr blog for progress updates and silly art - bonefucker-sanstasies.tumblr.com</p><p>This work might contain signs of verbal, domestic and family abuse, fighting and drama, the threat of dying and other Edgy™ themes so look out for that, friends</p>
            </blockquote>





	System of a Bone

**Author's Note:**

> finally  
> after 3000 years  
> it's here  
> enjoy the pornless plot <33

The silence is deafening. You sit up by Papyrus’s side, staring into the wide, terrified eyes of the smaller skeleton. All of you are silent... you and Sans terrified, Papyrus deep in thought. A drop of sweat runs down his scalp over his cheekbone, his eyes completely dark, motionless. It seems like minutes before you can’t take it anymore and cling tightly to the tall skeleton, your breath silenced by your tightening throat. Papyrus looks at you from the corner of his eyes, then slowly lifts his hand over your shoulder and holds you close.

“How many are there?” he says in a half whisper.

Sans gulps before answering, “all of them.” Papyrus lets out a deep exhale.

“I see...” He lets go of you and slowly gets up, reaching down for his armour.

“w-what do we do, boss?” Sans asks with a trembling voice. Papyrus remains silent. “b-boss! what do we do?!” Sans asks again, more urgent, and Papyrus looks to him furiously.

“Silence! Can you not see I am trying to-” He stops when meeting the terrified eyes of his shaking brother. He looks away in shame, letting out a deep sigh.

“I apologize… I am just as scared as you, brother.” Suddenly he opens his arms and leans in, hugging Sans. Sans freezes up, his eyes wide, giving you a confused, fleeting glance. After a moment Papyrus pulls back, leaving Sans staring in awe as he continues to fasten the buckles on his chestplate. You meet the smaller skeleton’s stare as he gives you a tiny, amazed smile.

“uh, heh. i could get used to this,” he jokes. Despite the situation, you smile. Papyrus pulls away from his brother, putting his serious posture back on.

“Mask the human’s scent.” Sans nods at the brief instruction and runs off, quickly coming back holding a very filthy sheet. It’s covered with stains, hair, and god knows what else, and before you know it, Sans throws it over you and begins to rub the filth into your skin. You freeze up in disgust, but understand that it’s necessary. Once you’re finally freed, Papyrus reaches down on the ground to pick up your clothes and gives them the same treatment before throwing them beside you on the bed.

“Get dressed, human.” He then finishes putting his armour on before looking to his brother.

“Pack your necessities and hide the rest,” he commands, “and make haste, we don’t have time to spare.” You quickly begin to put your clothes back on, while Sans gets down and pulls a huge suitcase from under Papyrus’s bed. He opens it, only to pull about a dozen smaller suitcases out, grabbing two of them and running back into the main room of the cabin. Once you’re fully clothed you go after him, watching as he stuffs them both with various things while throwing others into a hole underneath one of the floorboards. Papyrus stands with his back to the wall by the window, carefully peeking out. When he notices you’re in the room with them, he gesticulates for you to keep low and silent, and you nod obediently.

Sans closes his other suitcase, letting his brother know with a silent “psst”. Papyrus nods, coming to you and pushing you both to the back wall of the house. He leans down close to you, putting one hand over your shoulder and the other on Sans’s.

“Listen to me,” he whispers, “we cannot win this fight. For this, we shall flee. Sans, you will escort the human safely across the forest. Try to leave as few tracks as you can.” Sans nods, but seems scared out of his mind. You get a hold of his hand, taking one of the suitcases to carry yourself. He squeezes your hand back in his bone palm, shaking, as Papyrus reaches up and opens one of the boarded up windows. He helps his brother step out, then you, careful not to make much noise.

“Make haste. I will distract the dogs while you make your escape,” he whispers. “And human…” You look to him in anticipation. “Please protect my brother.” Then he closes the window.

You turn to Sans, who’s currently rolling his eye sockets annoyedly, before grabbing your hand and pulling you away from the cabin. You step carefully, scared to make even the slightest noise, listening in. You can just barely hear the creaking of the front door, then Papyrus’s deep calm voice. Your heart jumps in your chest when aggressive barking fills the forest, held from fleeing only by Sans squeezing your hand tighter. You can’t force your legs to move for a while, frozen in place. The terrifying sounds aren’t following you though, and so you go on, shivering, concentrating on Sans leading your hand to calm down.

You stumble through the cold forest, not daring to speak until the barking of the dogs finally disappears far behind. The sun hasn’t fully risen yet, and the dim underbrush gives you trouble, causing you to stumble sometimes. You come to a small ledge and Sans stops to help you down... _can he see better in the dark?_ As you step down, you look around before finally speaking.

“Sans?” you say carefully. Sans gives you a fleeting look before throwing his suitcase over his shoulder and grabbing your hand to continue.

“what is it?” he asks in almost a whisper, looking around carefully.

“Where are we going?” you ask. Sans turns around to you and grimaces.

“ugh, to a fucking cave…” he says with annoyance, “this is like the millionth time we’re moving there. we hide there whenever some shit goes down n’ come out when it’s over, but the damn place doesn’t even have a fucking amplifier.” You want to ask what an amplifier is, but Sans is ahead of you. “that’s like this thing where like uh… ya turn yer magic into the more basic kind of energy n then ya can power human things with the sparks. i mean i could totally power up stuff with my bare hands, but it’s a fuckin’ hassle and sometimes i break shit, so i’m not allowed anyway.”

“You mean you create electricity with magic?” Sans points at you and grins.

“yeah! exactly.” He quickly becomes annoyed again, however, saying, “also it’s really cold n’ damp in there, fuckin’ hate the place…” He lifts his head up and grins widely, his golden tooth gleaming in the morning light. “but hey,” he says, taking you around the shoulders, “we’ll be safe there.” You stare at him, feeling your heart sink heavily. Sans doesn’t seem to notice until you start to slow down, eventually coming to a complete halt. He stops, too, staring back at you confusedly.

“hey… what’s the matter?” he asks, then chuckles, “aww, it’s not _that_ bad over there, we’ll just make a fire and- ” He stops when he meets your sad eyes. You take a moment, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“Sans,” you say in a dark voice and you can see him getting nervous, knowing that something is about to go down. You feel bad for him, but you know there’s no other way but to tell him. “ _I_ won’t be safe there, or in the cabin, or anywhere else around here. And neither will you, as long as you’re with me.” Sans’s eyes light up and so you look away, sighing. “I’m only dragging you into more and more danger…” Sans stares at you in silence, then shakes his head.

“you-- you don’t-- you don’t want to be with me anymore?” he asks, sounding very hurt and even angry. You lift your eyes up and shake your head.

“No Sans, I do, more than anything in the world! I love you… both of you are the dearest anyone has ever been to me.”

“so what’s the fucking deal then?!” he says, his voice shaking, “j-just stay with us!” You frown with resolute.

“And get you both killed?! Sans, we knew this wouldn’t work from the beginning! I was stupid enough to try and prolong this, but I shouldn’t have! Now you’re both in danger because of me!”

“so what?! we’ll just live in the cave a few days till the dogs fuck off and-”

“And then what?!” you yell, “wait for all the other monsters to find me out and attack you again?!?! How long will you be able to hold them all off?!” Sans shakes like a leaf, both with anger and pain, not knowing what to do. You sigh deeply.

“I wish this would work, but it can’t. If I stay, I’ll only get you both in trouble and end up getting you killed! I’d rather be dead _myself_ than-”

Sans approaches you so fast you don’t even finish your sentence before he’s upon you, anger and desperation apparent in his eye sockets.

“DON’T- SAY THAT!” he yells, “I DON’T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT THAT!” he grabs your shirt roughly, pulling you closer. “I don’t care if you put us in danger! I don’t care if every monster in the world comes after me - I’d go to HELL AND BACK just to be with you!” He takes a few breaths, getting a bit calmer, his grasp on you easing down. He looks you in the eyes, his eye sockets dimming down, and you feel like he’s holding back tears. “i don’t want to lose you. you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, i can’t just let you go... we’ll figure this out somehow, there has to be-”

Suddenly Sans stops, his whole body perking up. He turns to the dark forest, his eyes wide, listening in. You don’t dare to make a sound. You stare in the same direction, still held by Sans, your heart beating in your chest like a hammer.

Suddenly you see it. Something moves with a silent rustle in the underbrush and Sans doesn’t wait a millisecond before materializing a set of small bones and chugging them right in that direction. There’s several loud thumps as the bones hit the trees and ground, then a doglike yelp. You can feel your knees beginning to shake as Sans’s eyes go wide and he drops the briefcase.

“oh shit run, RUN!” he yells, grabbing your hand and bolting forward. You drop your baggage as well, stumbling behind him, quickly catching up.

You run through the path as fast as you can, feeling the impact of your feet on the ground throughout your legs. Your whole body is straining with exhaustion, kept running by the adrenaline rush. Somewhere behind you a loud howl echoes through the trees and you can feel Sans’s boney fingers hold you tighter. You squeeze back, staring before your feet so that you don’t end up slipping and breaking your legs.

Movement catches the corner of your eye and you turn to see a white dog running a few meters beside you. Its dark armour glistens in the morning sun, a scabbard with a sword under a huge shield held on its back by a strong buckle around its shoulder. It runs on all four, gracefully jumping through the bushes and trees, giving you glances. Once it sees you’re looking, it begins to bark furiously, showing off its teeth. You whimper when it begins to approach, squeezing Sans’s hand tighter, getting his attention.

“how about you FUCK OFF!” Sans yells, throwing another set of bones in the dog’s direction. The beast stumbles, narrowly dodging the attack and staying behind as you continue on, running for your lives.

Somewhere behind you suddenly erupts a cacophony of barks and growls, making your insides turn with fear. Sans drags your arms closer as if assuring you he’s there, then suddenly two dogs jump from the forest right in front of you in a graceful arc, making you both stop dead in your tracks. Both beasts land onto the snow and slide a bit further before stopping, never letting their searing eyes off of you. These dogs look different than the other two you’ve seen, less like wolves and more like akbash dogs. Their ears are floppy and their snouts more rectangular. They both have black coats on which looks kind of silly, but you definitely don’t feel like laughing now. The small armored dog jumps out and lands behind you, blocking your way back. They stare at you for a second, then when they’re sure you can’t run, they stand up on their hind legs. The first wolflike dog takes out its sword and shield, its ears drawn back dangerously. You turn to the two dogs before you and see them arm themselves with huge axes they had under their black coats. From the corner of your eye you catch a glimpse of something huge moving in the shadows of the trees, knowing exactly who that is. It seems that you’re surrounded.

Unlike Papyrus, Sans doesn’t push you behind himself protectively. He seems to be just as terrified as you, pressing closer to you and holding your hand in his shaking palm. You don’t blame him one bit.

“End of the line, skeleton,” one of the akbash dogs says in an unexpectedly feminine voice, slowly inching closer with her weapon drawn towards you. “Hand over the human or we’ll show you how good we are at burying bones.” Sans’s fast terrified breathing gets interrupted with a weak chuckle.

“heh, i’d rather know how good you are at CATCH!” he chugs another attack right at the female dog, but the other jumps in the way, deflecting it with his axe without a flinch. Sans presses against you harder in fear.

“Ha! Is that all you’ve got?” the other akbash barks out in a manly voice. The female dog puts her axe over her shoulder and smirks.

“Pathetic~” she sings mockingly. You can hear the dog with the sword behind you stepping closer.

“Just give it up!” the male dog scoffs. “We only want satisfaction for the injuries your brother caused our comrade!” He points his weapon at the huge shadow under the trees, from which emits an angry growl. “So give us the human, you can catch yourself a new one! Nobody has to die.” You wonder if they want to avoid conflict because they know what Papyrus would do if they hurt his brother. Suddenly, Sans grabs you, giving the dogs a defiant look.

“and nobody _will_ ,” he growls, holding you closer. He turns to you as the dogs stare in disbelief, pressing his forehead onto yours. You want to push away, not able to bear the thought of him dying for you-

Then suddenly with a red flash of light blinding your eyes you’re elsewhere in the forest. You look around confusedly as Sans pulls back, looking at you with worry. A big smile spreads over his face and he sighs in relief, as if he was expecting something terrible. You’re confused as to what just happened… _did you just teleport? Oh right..._ Sans has this ability, but in the moment of fear you forgot.

“Did you-” You’re interrupted by barking, way too close by.

“WHERE’D IT GO?!”

“THAT BASTARD JUST TELEPORTED!”

“Did he really… show affection for it?”

“Disgusting!”

“Well he can’t be far - SEARCH THE AREA! STRIKE THEM BOTH DOWN!”

Sans looks around frantically, then begins to run away from the barking, holding your hand. You follow, both of you once again running through the trees and bushes and snow, the cold air biting your ears.

Sans suddenly stops, pulling you back and behind a tree. You just catch a glimpse of the smaller wolflike dog jumping before you, sniffing around, before you’re dragged into hiding. You don’t dare to move or even breathe too loud, just waiting. You both flinch in fear when the dog jumps and lands before you, sniffing at the ground and snorting in frustration. He hasn’t noticed you, so Sans quickly throws another bone far aside where it rustles in the shrubbery, getting the dog’s attention. It quickly perks its head up and barks out in a growl, bits of saliva flying out before it lunges in that direction and disappears in the snow. You don’t wait another second before bolting out, trying to be as fast and as silent as you can.

You run downhill, careful not to trip or kick a stone, making your way through the dense vegetation. You stumble and almost trip over, but Sans grabs you with his magic just in time, holding you over the ground. He carefully levitates you back on your feet and you go on. The growling and barking slowly fades and it looks like you’re finally getting away, slowing down unsurely. Eventually you stop and Sans turns to you and grins, but then catches sight of something behind you and his eyes go wide. You want to turn around but Sans grabs you, keeping you put.

“don’t move…” he whispers through his teeth. You do what he says, keeping as still as you can. You can hear rustling somewhere behind you, growls and muttering slowly approaching. You want to run, feeling your heart beating so hard and fast, but you keep still, shutting your eyes.

You open your eyes when the steps grow closer, finally getting to see their owner. A bipedal husky-like dog slowly creeps around, wielding two short swords, one in each hand-like front paw. You open your eyes fully, mesmerized by its looks. It wears a spiky collar and bracelets around its wrists, but its other clothes is colourful and not at all intimidating. It mutters something over a lit cigarette in its maw… _wait, is that actually a dog treat??_

It turns to you with narrowed squinting eyes, blinking as if trying to see better. It growls under its breath, pushing the smoking brown bone from one mouth corner to the other with its tongue. For a few seconds it stares right at you and you’re frozen in place, staring back. The animal with questionable fashion choices slowly comes closer, tapping the handle of its sword over its chin, deep in thought. Its snout wrinkles as it sniffs you, its ears perking up. It comes closer and you can feel your heart pounding louder. When it leans in so close you have to hold your breath, you pray to your lucky stars…

Suddenly the dog pulls back, shaking its head and frowning.

“Oh, pee-ew!” it says in a ruff voice, pulling back, “what the hell is that?!” You look at Sans from the corner of your eye, seeing him grinning, hardly suppressing laughter. The dog rubs its nose, its tail drawn between its legs, stepping away from you. Looks like the smell blanket treatment you got earlier really worked.

“Doggo?!” the feminine bark echoes through the trees. The husky, or Doggo, perks its ears up.

“Present!” it shouts, muffled over the dog treat.

“Did you find the human?” Doggo rubs its snout more, walking away from you.

“No, unless the human smells like a two week old Gyftrot corpse!” He slides the swords under his belt and gets on all four, jumping away after the voice. You both don’t dare to move until he’s completely out of your sight, finally getting a breath of air, hunching over. Sans covers his mouth and laughs silently.

“i can’t believe it,” he whispers, giggling, “he got it right, it really was a dead gyftrot!” You look at him and shudder in disgust.

“I didn’t need to know that…” Sans chuckles and takes you around the shoulders.

“heh, sorry,” he apologizes, pushing a little kiss into your cheek. You smile, returning him the favor with a smooch on the cheekbone.

“how ya holdin’ up babe?” be asks, trying to sound cool a little too hard. You sigh, but keep your smile.

”I’ve been better…” you say. Sans squeezes you closer for a moment.

“yeah, i know it ain’t real dandy but hey, you’re still in one piece, i’m still in one piece...” He looks around carefully before continuing. “and it looks like we are safe for now.”

 _For now…_ You sigh.

“Sans?” The small skeleton looks at you, masking his nervousness behind a smile. “Is this a normal occurrence? Being on the run from someone who want’s your skin…” You chuckle, adding “or rather, your _shin_.” Sans covers his mouth not to laugh to loud, but then his smile gets a bit sad.

“well… yeah. that’s how us monsters do. there’s always somebody who wants you dead, to get your stuff, to get revenge on somebody or just for sports ya know.” He pauses for a moment, both of you walking slowly, the snow crunching under your boots. You lift your arm up and get it over his shoulder, holding him closer, giving him a little kiss on the forehead. He groans lightly, pulling away, but with a smile.

“hey, i ain’t no weak shit, ya ain’t gotta cradle me like this. i can handle some dumb barkin’ brutes and i don’t even- LOOK OUT!”

You try to turn around but before you can he grabs you and tugs you aside so hard he almost dislocates your shoulder. An axe swooshes mere inches away from you and hits the ground. You and Sans back off, wanting to know who you’re up against. The male dog growls as he pulls his weapon from the frozen ground, looking to you with a mixture of hostility and disgust. He exhales through the nose, his hairy lips twitching up as if he couldn’t help but show off his teeth.

“I always thought you skeletons were up to no good,” he growls, stepping forward on his almost comically small hind legs. Both you and Sans step back slowly, not daring to make a run for it with the dog this close. You both know that a single precise axe throw could kill one of you with ease.

“I mean, the whole thing with the human and the flower...” the dog chuckles, shaking his head, his floppy ears swinging side to side. “But I always thought you just wanted to break the barrier, you know? I never believed you actually _cared_ about them.” You feel Sans’s grasp on your arm getting tighter, and when you look to him, he’s absolutely furious. His eyes are wide and wild, he’s grinding his teeth tightly together, helpless tears running down his cheekbones. The dog shrugs.

“But I guess I was wrong. You’re a dirty human fucker.” This time you know the disgusted twitching of his nose is intentional. “Undyne told us not to kill you, but,” he shudders, his eyes widening in rage, his fur puffing up, “I can’t possibly let such an insult to honest monster mariage live!” He swings the axe up, opening his maw to bark--

But all that gets out is a loud ragged growl followed by a surprised yelp as something hits him right over the head. The dog flinches and falls to the ground, the axe sticking into the snow right next to him. Your eyes go from the unmoving dog up and you see Papyrus standing over him, stern look on his face. He lets the huge bone he hit the dog over the head with dissolve, scoffing.

“I shall leave it at ‘lay’ for now, but next time, it will be ‘play dead’.” He grins at his joke, striking a little pose before looking to you. Your face lights up at the sight of him-- _oh man,_ you never thought you’d be so happy to see a skeleton knock a dog unconscious before. You run to him, throwing your arms around him. He doesn’t hug you back, only placing a gloved hand over your head.

“holy shit, bro!” Sans laughs, “your timing is fucking flawless!” He runs to him with his arms open, but then stops, seemingly unsure if he’s allowed. Papyrus looks at him without emotion, but then outreaches his other arm and pushes him closer. Sans is still kind of unsure if this is really a thing he can do now, but eventually wraps his arms around his brother, closing his eyes and pushing his face in his chestplate.

After a while Papyrus gently pushes you away, looking around carefully. He then turns to the dog for a moment before giving you a stern look.

“He’s gonna wake up soon. But, knowing you human, you would not appreciate me putting him down, would you?” You shake your head in silence and he scoffs silently.

“How sentimental… but I shall respect your wishes.” he remains silent for a moment, looking down at unmoving body lying in the snow. Then he smirks lightly. “And also… The Great Papyrus wishes to learn of your ways of kindness. If it has not been for your philosophy, my brother would have been dead and so would you, is that not right? Therefore, there has to be value in your ways.” You smile widely and proudly, the thought of your pacifist ideology getting to him spreading warmth in your chest.

“But let us not wait around foolishly until the canines find our track again.” He steps out on the way, gesturing you with a gloved hand to follow. “Come now, and keep low. Their hearing is just as great as their lust for blood.” You both nod and follow the tall skeleton on your way.

“where are we goin’? this ain’t the way to the caves,” Sans notes after a few minutes of silence. Papyrus nods, not turning around.

“We cannot go to the caves. I have been there a few moments ago, looking for you, but all I have found was snow and ice. The whole mountain of Ebbot is covered in avalanches. To dig our way into the caves would be to dig our own grave.”

“oh… um, then where _do_ we go? ”

“The crypt. It is rather small, but it shall provide us with shelter until the way to the human city is clear.” Both you and Sans lift your heads up in question.

“The human city?” you ask. Papyrus nods.

“Once it is safe, we shall return you to where you belong. It is far too dangerous for you to-”

“whoa whoa hold up!” Sans suddenly interrupts him, stopping in his tracks. Papyrus turns to him and shushes him, since he got quite loud, but Sans doesn’t seem to notice.

“what’s all this returnin’ talk? i thought the human was gonna stay with us!” he says, a bit of desperation apparent in his voice. “what about all the stuff we did?! i even let you two fuck cuz i thought that-” He’s interrupted by Papyrus stepping closer to him, obviously furious and really damn imposing. Sans immediately shuts up and cowers down a bit as his brother gets all the way to him, his eyes bright in rage.

“You did not ‘let us’, you are in no position to ‘ _let us_ ’, the human does _NOT_ belong to _YOU_! ” he growls through his sharp teeth. Sans wills himself to stand up straight despite his obvious fear.

“w-well-- i had them first! so _I_ have a much bigger say in this than _YOU_! and _I_ say,- ” You interrupt the both of them by jumping right in between, pushing them away.

“Stop it! Both of you!” you say as firmly as you can. It seems to work, both skeletons stepping off and staring at you, apparently surprised that you’d speak up like this. “I don’t ‘ _belong_ ’ to anybody! I make my own decisions about what happens to me, and I want to go home!” You calm down again, seeing Papyrus get calm again, waiting for your response. When you turn around to Sans, you see him angry, turning away from you and folding his arms.

“Me being here doesn’t put just me into danger, but you two as well! Everybody is gonna go after your necks if I stay with you - I don’t wanna be responsible for you being in mortal danger all the time!”

You stare at Papyrus, who nods at your words, but doesn’t say a word. You turn around to Sans, dreading what you’re about to see. He hasn’t changed his stance, only now tears are welling up in his eyes. He frowns even harder and angrily wipes his face into his sleeve. You sigh deeply, feeling bad for having to do this, but knowing it’s the only way. You slowly approach him with your arms outstretched and gently wrap them around him. He struggles to get away, grumbling, but eventually lets you hold him.

“I won’t leave you guys completely,” you coo to him, “I’ll be visiting you guys often, and you can visit me. I don’t want to lose you too you know…” You kiss him on his teary cheekbone, “I love you…”

Silence prevails. You don’t let go of Sans, wanting to hear some sort of response, any kind of acknowledgement that he know you _don’t_ want to leave… but before it can come, you’re both jolted out of your moment with distant barks. Papyrus is immediately ready to fight while Sans presses against you, looking around nervously. Papyrus pretty much literally jumps to you and pushes you into run.

“There will be time to sort that later, when we’re not in mortal danger. Go, I shall lead the way.”

Soon, you’re once again running through the trees. The barking behind you gets louder as it approaches, echoing through the forest, making you a bit disoriented. The tall skeleton seems to know exactly where to run though, and so you just follow, your body tired and aching but still-

Pain jolts through you and you yelp loudly as you stumble in full run. You try to find your balance, almost breaking your legs over the stones, but before you can hit the cold hard ground you’re suddenly held afloat in the air. You open your eyes to see Sans still running with his arm outstretched towards you, lifting you up. He closes his eyes and huffs in strain as he carries you above Papyrus who opens his arms. Sans lets go and you land safely in the tall skeleton’s arms.

“There is no shame in asking us for help, human.” He gives you a fleeting smile, holding you closer. You smile, holding him around the shoulders and snuggling to his chest.

Now that you don’t have to run you instead look around, ready to tell Papyrus if any dogs show up. Your surroundings look familiar… it seems you’re going the same way you did yesterday. That means the crypt can’t be too far away, with this speed it might only take a few minutes. You can’t wait to finally be able to relax after such a--

A dog jumps on the trail behind you, running on all four, teeth clenched and eyes wide. You quickly let Papyrus know, which proves unnecessary as the dog begins to bark loudly. You couldn’t tell at first, but it’s the same male dog as before. Papyrus runs onto the plateau, the dog still in pursuit.

But suddenly, Papyrus stops.

You turn to see what the holdup is, and your blood runs cold. All of the dogs already stand there in a half circle. The three of you turn to see the male dog run in and stop, getting up on his hind legs and drawing his weapon, completing the trap. Now that he’s closer, you notice a trail of blood going down his head, one eye painfully closed.

The silence is deafening. The sun is high, the wind is cold but gentle. You’re about to die.

Sans clings onto Papyrus, and so do you. The tall skeleton doesn’t let any emotions show, still holding you in his arms and looking around carefully. The dogs slowly approach him from all sides and Papyrus steps back slowly until you’re at the edge of the Wanderlust Horizon. The Margin of Screams. The place of executions.

The female dog gives the male one a worried look, but he just shakes his head. She looks back to you, showing off her teeth in anger.

“We were just gonna take the human,” she says, “but not only are you attacking us, not only are you defying the royal guard orders… You’re _carrying_ the thing! You’re _protecting_ the thing!!!” She shakes her head in disgust. “You _care_ about it??!”

“Disgusting! How _dare_ you taint the pride of monster kind like this!?” the male dog barks out. “Death to you! Death to you all!” Papyrus stays silent, then puts you down, pushing you behind himself. He steps out slightly, putting his hands behind his back, staying absolutely stone cold despite the situation.

“You are quite audacious to go against Undyne’s orders. How do you think she’d like her star pupil to be executed?”

“And how do you think she’ll like her ‘star pupil’ fucking a human?!” the female dog growls. “You know Undyne wouldn’t hesitate to kill her own _family_ if she had to. What makes you think you’ll be an exception?!” The male dog steps forward.

“And she _will_ have to kill you! You are a traitor to the monster kind-- your disgusting behaviour is nothing but _treason_!” He says, ending with a growl.

The circle starts closing in slowly, pushing you to the edge. _You have to do something-- they can’t die because of you!_ In a moment of panic, you run in front of Papyrus and speak up before he can stop you.

“Stop!” you yell, the first thing that came to your mind. The dogs stop, only to stare at you in confusion and anger. You take advantage of the moment and go on. “Please stop! It’s me you want! I’m right here, take me, kill me, do whatever you have to-- just please don’t hurt them!”

It’s silent. You look around, but the only reaction you notice is the biggest dog folding its ears down, no other change in its serious, hostile stare. Then, the dogs begin to laugh.

Your heart sinks. You can hear the dogs call you idiotic and sentimental, dumb human filth, in between their barking laughter. You hang your head down in hopelessness, feeling Papyrus’s hand gently grab your shoulder. You turn to him with tears in your eyes and an apology on your lips, but all of that is swept away when you see a mischievous smile over his teeth.

“Thank you.” You can’t even begin to wonder why he’s thanking you before he springs up and jumps in the air.

It all happens so fast. Papyrus materialises two huge bone spears mid air and throws them at the male and female dogs. Their laughter at your words gave him exactly the element of surprise he needed, catching them both off guard. The female dog manages to dodge the attack, stumbling down on the ground, but the male dog is hit. You flinch at the sight before you notice it only went through his coat, pinning him to the ground momentarily. The female dog doesn’t waste another moment before lunging at Papyrus with her weapon, but the tall skeleton just gracefully backflips to dodge the attack, immediately retaliating with a set of thick, blunt bones. The female dog gets away from the first few but then one hits her in the shin and she’s knocked off balance, getting hit three more times in the chest and head. Papyrus smirks to himself, giving you a fleeting look before summoning another bone spear to deflect the incoming sword attack of the small armoured dog. He throws him away, then jumps up again, mercilessly throwing one attack after another at the shielding canine. You aren’t sure if the flips and somersaults are necessary for his fighting style, but you wouldn’t be too surprised if he just wanted to show off. Honestly if you could do this kinda acrobatic shit, it’d be your only means of transport anywhere.

“SANS, THINK FAST!” the tall skeleton yells and you just now notice the approaching danger. You freeze in place, seeing the giant armored dog lift up his spear to hit you, but before he can Sans jumps in front of you, his arms outstretched. The spear begins to glow red as Sans takes a hold of it, managing to knock the dog’s aim off, and the spear lands beside you on the edge of the cliff. A chunk of rock detaches and falls down into the depths, making you shudder. The dog quickly lifts his spear and tries again, but this time Sans grabs you by the upper arm and teleports a tiny bit aside with you. Sans continues to narrowly dodge every attack, holding your arm in a tight trembling hold, and you notice his fear, his shaking, his whimpers. Unlike Papyrus, who seems to actually enjoy the fight, Sans is absolutely terrified, sweating like a maniac and clutching onto you for dear life. You remember to when he begged you to spare him, saying you’d kill him in one hit… this doesn’t look good.

The dog gets more and more frustrated, barking and growling and swinging its weapon all around. Sans keeps dodging, occasionally throwing a few attacks to distract the dog, while Papyrus fends off the rest of the pack. From the corner of your eye you see the husky dog fiercely attacking a bystanding shrubery that sways in the wind a few meters away from where the fight is taking place.

The heavy spear clashes with the ground again, the cracking of stone filling your ears. Your heart gets caught in your throat when you hear rumbling underneath you, realizing what’s about to happen. In a moment of panic you spread your arms, trying to stop the dog from another attack, but it pays you no mind. Sans jolts you back away from the weapon and it hits the ledge one final time. As you suspected, it’s all the ground can take.

The fighting stops with loud cracking sounds as the ground shifts under you. In less than a second, the dogs further away jump to safety while Papyrus seems frozen in place, torn between running away from the danger and running right into it to save you. His hesitation costs him his chance to do either.

Before you can run, before you can even think, the ground under you breaks off.

Suddenly, you’re in free fall.

The sound of air swooshing around you fills your ears, blocking out everything else. Your mind, so full of fear and terror just a moment ago, goes blank. You look to the horizon, in all its beauty, the morning light shining into the snow covered forest. All you can think is… this does _not_ feel like flight.

You wake up from your trance when you feel a hand grab your shoulder. Suddenly everything comes back to you, your fear, your hearing, your mind, and you turn around to see Sans. His teeth are clenched and his eyes full of tears, he’s so full of terror. Crying, you reach out for him with your other hand and so does he, both of you grabbing your way towards each other until your arms are wrapped around one another. Your cries are drowned in the fall by the rushing wind. Your deaths are fast approaching with the ground, but your heart has not given up. You’re still filled with hope. It can’t end like this.

It _can’t_ end like this.

Then suddenly, you feel his body, pressed against yours so tightly, resonate with power. Skeletal hands clenching the fabric of your coat and eyes screwed shut in concentration, you feel the power within him grow. You catch a glimpse of something flying fast by you, then something begins to press against you from the bottom. Very lightly at first, slowly getting closer, until you’re sitting right on it. In the span of a few seconds it begins to break your fall, slowing you down, finally stopping you. When you fully come back to your senses, you realize it’s a dragon skull, much bigger than the one you saw Papyrus create. The enormous jaws gently land on the dark ground, hidden in the shadows of the trees under the cliff, and then disappear into a puff of red mist. You fall to the ground, still holding onto the small skeleton. You are so out of it that all you can do it smile widely as tears continue to stream down your face.

You cling to Sans, trying to reassure yourself that both of you survived, you’re fine now. It’s only as the adrenaline subsides and you can think beyond your own mortality that you realize everything is _not_ fine.

Sans hasn’t moved since you hit the ground. You pull him back to look him over to find his body slack and unresponsive. The usual comforting warmth of his bones had lessened and his eye sockets are dark, his smile slack. Fear begins to rise in you anew as you gently slap his cheekbone. “S-Sans? Sans, please wake up! I need you to wake up!” Fear quickly becomes panic as your voice rises. _Oh god! He can’t be dead, can he? He didn’t just save your life at the cost of his own?_ The thought brings you to the verge of hysterics. You grip his fur collar and shake him desperately, “SANS! WAKE UP!!! YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME!!!" Gut wrenching sobs wrack your body as you slowly stop shaking him and bury your face in his coat, "I-I know y-you said you would- that you would go to Hell and b-back for me but- you weren't supposed to actually leave! W-what about Papyrus?! You c-can't leave us!"

Sound from the nearby trees cut your despair short and you are put on high alert once more. Gathering Sans in your arms you look around desperately for a place to hide. It’s only now that you notice the huge dragon skull is nowhere to be found. Sensing whoever was drawing near just on the other side of the trees, you struggle to you feet despite your muscles stiff and aching protests. Ready to use the last bits of your strength in an attempt to run, you only halt at the sound of a voice, “Human?! Sans!”

“Papyrus!” The relief in his voice is as unmistakable as the feeling that washes over you. As Papyrus rushes to you, you take in his appearance... the sweat that coats his skull, the new long scrapes along his armor, and the flecks of blood that couldn’t be his own. He falls to his knees and gathers you both in his arms in a crushing hug, clinging to you like a lifeline. You cling just as hard and ignore the pain as you just take his presence in. It’s a few moments before you hear his weak, disbelieving laughter and you strain your ears to hear the words muttered into your hair, “Oh thank the stars you're both alive. I thought…” He doesn't complete the sentence, unable to say what horrors he imagined, holding you and Sans closer.

Sans’s shoulder digs into yours painfully, and his condition comes back to the front of your mind. You struggle to push Papyrus away to let him know, “Papyrus! It’s Sans! He won't wake up! A-a-and and he won't respond to anything! I can’t tell if he’s dead or dying but we have to do something!!!”

Papyrus jerks away at that as seriousness and fear settles over him once more. He examines Sans, then smiles a little, sighing in relief.

“It is nothing serious human, he is not hurt…” You sigh in relief also, realizing all the tension that was built up in your body.

“It seems as if Sans has gone unconscious from magic fatigue. What happened?” You recount the events of your fall and how the two of you were saved by the giant dragon skull. Papyrus nods with all the usual seriousness, the blood spatters on his armour trailing down.

“I see… creating and controlling a Blaster of these proportions is not an easy task, especially for someone so inexperienced and untrained in the art of magic. By doing so, Sans has channeled too much magic with more force than his body could manage. He has, as they say, ‘snuffed himself out’.”

You stare at him in thought, then look down at Sans. You admire him for saving you both, but feel sorry for him. You don’t have much time to think as Papyrus pushes you aside to get to his brother. He places his hands on Sans’s chest and a red glow begins to shine from them. You sit by him, unable to look away. You desperately want to ask what he’s doing, but keep silent out of fear of breaking his concentration. Seemingly sensing your curiosity, Papyrus begins to explain, never looking away from Sans.

“It is called a ‘Jumpstart’ among my kind. I am attempting to transfer part of my magic to Sans in order to revive his ability to regenerate his own at a reasonable pace. Since we are brothers, our magic is almost interchangeable, which makes this procedure much easier. Still, I will need a few moments of--”

The sudden clash makes you jump on your feet. Papyrus is thrown to the side by the attack from behind, holding his skull in pain. The giant dog doesn’t give him time to retaliate, landing its enormous paw on Papyrus’s chest and drawing the spear to his neck vertebrae, successfully downing him. Its breathing is heavy and painful, fur splattered with blood, and you notice that its left front leg is limp. It growls deeply, lifting it’s weapon up as Papyrus tries desperately to get loose. You act before you can think.

You yell as you jump forward and the dog’s ears perk up. If it had both its arms you’re sure it would strike you down, but like this, it instead covers itself with its weapon, expecting you to attack it. You get down and lay your chest over both Papyrus and the dog paw, leaving both monsters utterly confused. You wait a few seconds. The attack doesn’t come. You slowly, very slowly lift your head up and face the giant beast. From this angle you notice some of its teeth are knocked out.

You stare up into its animalistic eyes and they stare back down at you. The dog is motionless, expressionless, its heavy breathing the only indication of time passing. Both of you know what this is about. Both of you remain silent for a long time.

Finally, you draw in a shaking breath and speak. Your words are weak, but clear.

“Please, I beg of you… spare our lives…”

Another long, drawn out silence follows, but you are full of hope. You are not dead yet.

You watch in silence at its ears slowly draw back. It turns away from you with a look of deep thought, then sighs deeply. Slowly, it lifts its paw from Papyrus and steps back. You help your skeleton lover sit up as the dog stand by. Both of you look at it, Papyrus a bit confused, while you just nod and give the dog a thankful smile. There’s no response. Instead the beast turns away and slowly walks off, until its giant posture disappears in the vegetation.

The moment you feel you’re safe again, you turn your attention back to Papyrus.

“Are you okay?!” you say, keeping your voice down. Papyrus blinks, still a bit out of it from the strange exchange that just happened, but quickly shakes it off and holds onto his skull instead.

“Ah, yes, I believe I…” He draws his hand away and notices thick, dark, red blood covering his fingers. His eyes widen in fear, so unlike his serious posture, and it shakes you to the core.

“Oh…” he says, touching his skull again to draw more blood. You don’t know what to do, trembling.

“Oh god Papyrus what-- you guys bleed?!” you finally stutter out. Papyrus takes a while to answer, still petrified by the whole ordeal. Finally he looks to you, then back at his bloodied hand.

“Y-yes, we do in fact bleed. But I… I mean I never… this is bad.”

You quickly tear off part of your shirt, holding onto Papyrus so you can tie his injury easier. The upper right side of his skull has a small crack on it, oozing with very thick and very dark blood. At least the bleeding is slow, soon stopped by the fabric tied tightly around his head. Papyrus doesn’t seem in pain, although he does groan weakly when you tighten the knot... instead, he seems speechless. And terrified. _Oh fuck,_ seeing the strong skeleton so afraid makes your hair stand on ends.

Once you pull away you gently hold onto his chin, lifting it up to face you. You give him a little assuring smile, trying to lift his spirits, although you don’t feel too brave yourself.

“There, it’s okay now, you're not bleeding anymore,” you whisper. But Papyrus looks away from you, the same despairing, flickering eyes… now that you noticed them… they do seem to flicker unnaturally.

Papyrus lifts his hand up and you see the red mist of his magic swirl up, but before it can materialize, Papyrus grabs onto his head in pain. He tries again, with the same results. You notice tears welling up in his eye sockets as he tries again, and again, until you grab onto his hand to stop him. As you do, he can’t hold on anymore, grabbing onto you and burying his face in your chest in despair. You don’t know what to do, so you just hold onto him, gently rubbing his back.

“We are doomed…” he whimpers, “my magic… my injury has... “ He holds onto you tighter. “I am incapable of battle, human. I can no longer protect you- o-or revive my brother. We are as good as dead.” You hold your own tears the best you can…

No.

It can’t.

End.

Like this.

You’re _not_ giving up.

You grab onto Papyrus and lift him up, suddenly feeling much more determined and in control.

“No Papyrus, we’re not dead yet. And we won’t be. There has to be a way.” Papyrus stares up at you in surprise, reddish tears still coming down his boney face.

“But… what way could there be? None of us are fit to fight at the moment. The dogs are on our track. And we have nowhere to go!” You frown in thought.

“Nowhere? Is there really no other hiding place?” Papyrus looks away.

“I am afraid not… The caves are snowed in, and the guard is sure to find us at our cabin or in the crypt. There are other places, but none of them are safe. We are surely already known as traitors. Any monster that sees us will attack us or give our location away to the authorities.” He hangs his head down, tearing up once again. “And we cannot fight back…”

You don’t let go of his shoulders or your hope. There has to be something you can do…

Finally, the answer comes to you and you smile widely.

“Papyrus.” The hopeful sound of your voice makes him look up at you. “I know the perfect place, with no monsters to attack us. Nobody will find us - in the human city!”

Papyrus just stares at you in disbelief. Then he shakes his head lightly, doubtful, but at the same time hopeful.

“But… surely humans would kill me and my brother if-”

“They won’t find you. You’ll hide in my apartment and I’ll take care of everything. The suburbs where I live are pretty empty, anyway.” Papyrus still doesn’t seem convinced about the safety of this plan, until you give him a warm smile and gently hug him.

“At least until we find a better solution. You can return back to the forest if you want to, after this blows over.” His response is a weak hold on you as he hugs you back.

He pulls away, his eye sockets still teary, but looking much more serious again.

“Then we must hurry. If we avoid conflict, we might just be able to make it. Once we restore our powers, we can return, but until then, we shall hide away… in the human city.” He smirks briefly, as if saying the words was mildly funny to him. You smile back, helping him on his feet.

Papyrus leans down and scoops his unconscious brother into his arms, holding him close. You look around, trying to figure out what direction to go, but Papyrus seems to know exactly. Figures, since these woods are his home.

You follow after as you both jog through the forest. You don’t run too fast, saving up the remains of your energy in case you needed to _really_ run. You go in silence at first, but noticing that you don’t know any of the surroundings, you catch up to the tall skeleton with a question.

“Is this the right way to the city?” you ask, trying to keep your voice down just in case. Papyrus looks to you with a smirk.

“I am taking a small detour, you see. We shall walk through the river for a portion of the way, so that the water will wash out our tracks.” You smile widely.

“You’re one clever skeleton,” you compliment him, making him grin widely.

“Why thank you, human.” He says, lifting his head up in pride, the cloth around his skull swaying as he runs. You have to chuckle at his sorta adorable vanity.

You do as Papyrus says, running to the river. The water seems very cold and you groan at the thought of having to wade in it, but before you can step in with your sore feet, Papyrus is already offering to carry you, noting that his skeletal feet do not get cold, especially in his amazing red boots. He puts the considerably lighter Sans over his shoulders while taking you into his arms. Even when injured, his physical strength is immense.

The lights of the approaching city are already visible in the darkening evening sky. You step out of the river, full of hope, making your way through the much more familiar trees. You both allow yourself to walk instead of jog-- tired, but so close. You can almost smell the air pollution...

“ **PAPYRUS!** ”

The voice behind you makes you both freeze up. It’s a voice you’ve never heard before, but when you look at Papyrus, you can see his face is full of fear again.

Slowly, you turn around, the crunching of the snow approaching as your pursuer steps closer. In the darkness stands a tall spiky figure, one eye shining from the vizor of the jagged helmet like that of a cat. They stop a few meters away, a long red plume on top of their helmet swaying in the light wind.

It’s completely silent.

Papyrus looks to you. His face is completely serious, although he looks… pained. Slowly, he hands you the limp body of his brother, putting his forehead on yours for a brief moment.

“Run. I will hold her off as long as I can. You can make it into the city. Please take care of my brother for me…”

“You’re not going anywhere!” the attacker says in a loud angry feminine voice. You’re frozen in your place for a while, but eventually dare to take a step back.

Immediately, a blue glowing spear swooshes right by your head, impaling one of the trees. You freeze up again, and Papyrus steps forward.

“You have come for me, not them! I am the one responsible. I am the one whom you shall execute, according to the Royal Law.”

“Shut up! I haven’t come to execute you, Papyrus…” The attacker lifts her arm up, grabbing onto the visor and pulling her helmet off. You realize the red plume is her actual hair as you take in her appearance. A fish-like humanoid, with big fin-like ears, enormous, wickedly sharp teeth and one big, wild eye. The blue scales shimmer in the city light as she scoffs angrily.

“I’ve come to knock some damn sense into you, you IDIOT!”

It clicks in your head. This is Undyne, the head of the Royal Guard. For some strange reason, you know this so surely based on such little info, although you can’t really reason why. She comes a step closer and stops, frowning furiously.

“In all my years of knowing you I would NEVER have guessed you would do this - I mean, running away with some filthy human? What got into that empty skull of yours?! This isn’t you!”

“I do not care for small talk, Undyne,” Papyrus says in all seriousness, “fight me or leave.” Undyne throws her helmet to the ground in anger.

“YOU DON'T ORDER _**ME**_ AROUND, YOU NUMBSKULL!” she yells, “I’m the one in charge! And I order you to stop it! The dogs have told me you… that _you and the human_ …” She turns away with a disgusted grimace. “But I know you, Papyrus. You’re not stupid. You would never love this- this- slightly smarter animal,” she gesticulates to you. “So come to your senses, let me kill it, and we can forget all about this.”

Papyrus doesn’t even bat an eye, staring Undyne down with the same serious look.

“I am afraid I cannot allow that,” he says slowly, “I will _not_ let you kill the human. That is my final word. ” Undyne’s only eye gets bright and wild in fury.

“If you don’t,” she says through her teeth, “I will have to kill you.”

“I know,” Papyrus says with a slight nod, “and I’ll fight to the last breath.”

Silence falls once again. The wind picks up slightly, swaying Undyne’s long hair fins. They stare each other down until Undye closes her eye and sighs.

“Papyrus…” she says, “I don’t want to fight you. And I sure as _hell_ don’t want you dead. But I can’t allow this, or the king will have my head. I will intercede for you, tell others it was some human magic that got you acting all crazy. Let me kill the human and everything will be alright.” When no response comes, her expression gets… desperate. “ _Please_.”

Papyrus leans his head down, then sighs deeply. “I am sorry Undyne,” he says silently, lifting his head back up, “but I made a promise. If you want to kill the human, you will have to go through me.”

Undyne doesn’t answer. She hangs her head down in silence for a while, then lifts a hand up. Light blue, almost white magic swirls around her fingers like electricity and a energy spear materializes in her webbed hand.

“Fine then,” she says in a growling voice, somehow both furious and sorry, “have it your way.”

Then, in an instant, all hell breaks loose.

Her movements are insanely fast as she begins to chug spear after spear at Papyrus like a machine gun.

Papyrus dodges every single one, some with less ease than you’d like, not saying a word with the same serious expression. You dodge a few yourself before grabbing onto Sans tighter and taking off, running away as fast as you can. The battle follows you, but Papyrus keeps Undyne off of you with punches and kicks.

“SO IT COMES DOWN TO THIS, HUH?!” Undyne yells as she continues her attacks. “THE MASTER AGAINST HER OWN DISCIPLE.”

“At least you can see how well you have trained me,” Papyrus answers. Undyne roars loudly.

“WHAT SHAME, YOU REALLY COULD’VE MADE IT INTO THE ROYAL GUARD IF IT WASN’T FOR THIS, YOU DUMB SACK OF BONES! ALL BECAUSE OF A **STUPID HUMAN**!”

The fight continues as you run on, the town getting closer and closer, and you can already see the first paved road when suddenly the fish warrior jumps right in front of you, her armour ringing loudly. When she looks at you with her one gleaming eye, her sharp teeth showing off in a snarl, your whole body freezes up in fear.

“I will NOT let you DO THIS TO HIM!” She yells furiously as she chugs a spear right at you before you can react. The only thing you will yourself to do is close your eyes tightly, waiting to be slain right then and there.

You feel sharp pain shoot into your body from just under your ribs.

But… you are still on your feet.

Slowly, you open your eyes, looking down to see the tip of the spear piercing your skin, only a centimeter deep, the shirt around it getting bloodied… but it’s hardly enough to kill you. Slowly, your eyes trail up and you lock them with Papyrus’s wide eye sockets, his arms still spread above your shoulders. He seems petrified in pain.

The spear has impaled him right through his black chestpiece, which has just saved your life. But the only thing in your head right now is blind panic and violent sorrow. Your eyes fill with tears as Papyrus slowly slumps down on his knees, staring down at the weapon sticking out of his chest.

Everything is frozen in time. You can’t breathe, only staring right at him, your mind blank.

Suddenly, a webbed hand grabs onto his scarf and lifts him up roughly. You stare up at the fish woman, surprised to see her eye filled with tears, although she still appears furious. She grabs onto the spear and calls it back into magic before shoving Papyrus back down with her foot, tearing his scarf off of his neck. She looks to you and you can’t do anything but shake as she reaches out for Sans, grabbing onto his golden tooth and pulling it out. She gives you one last long hateful stare of her teary eye before she steps back with both items in each hand.

“Fine,” she says, her voice shaking with tears, “have it your way. Have it your way… Go and live whatever pathetic life you’ve chosen, Papyrus. You’re dead to me.”

Papyrus remains lying on the ground as she walks off. Before she completely disappears in the darkness, she turns around one more time.

“Never come back. Because next time, I won’t be so sentimental.”

Then she’s gone.

Papyrus slowly gets up on his arms and knees and you quickly come down to him, asking if he's okay. He holds onto the hole in his chest piece in silence, not even looking at you, then slowly gets up.

“I am fine. It went between my ribs for the most part.” That's all he says before limping towards the city. You stay still for a while, feeling so helpless… then you go after him, offering him your shoulder to lean on.

You can feel the blood trailing down your underbelly and legs, slowly approaching your apparent building step by step. You’re both silent, not knowing what to say, limping through the night city towards the empty relative safety. You’re so exhausted in every meaning of the word. You’re not even sure if what you did was the right thing to do...

But as you finally get to your flat and help Papyrus sit down on your bed, still holding onto Sans… you feel hopeful.

All of you are alive. Injured and tired, but alive. Feeling awful, void of your previous purpose…

But alive.

You made it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 5 of an alternate version of our long going skelebros polyamory series and has some sort of continuity going on, for the rest of this series as well as the original one either click the link under the tags or look into my archive.


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